Tenant's Nephew Can't Get Rent-Controlled Apartment

Landlord sued to evict apartment occupant after rent-controlled tenant died. The occupant claimed succession rights and that he was tenant's nephew. The trial court ruled for landlord. Occupant appealed and lost. Occupant didn't claim he was tenant's nephew until after the trial was completed. Although a nephew no longer qualifies as a family member entitled to succession rights, he argued that his succession claim vested while "nephew" still qualified as a family member with succession under prior law. But occupant failed to establish his claim and had engaged in a "decades-long" deception concerning tenant's whereabouts. This included lying in prior court proceedings that tenant was still alive although tenant had in fact died.

CBU Assoc., Inc. v. Forray: 65 Misc.3d 132(A), 2019 NY Slip Op 51580(U) (App. T. 1 Dept.; 10/7/19; Shulman, PJ, Gonzalez, Edmead, JJ)